Plans for my 2.9 987.2

Hey Guys, I’m pretty new to the forum, thought I would share what I’m planning for my 987.2 cayman and hopefully hear some thoughts/feedback based on what you guys might have done in the past. I decided to go with the K&N air filter since i’ve used it in past cars and never had issues with it. I chose not to do the de-snorking simply because I couldn’t find enough evidence that it actually helped much with performance nor sound, plus I live in south Florida where we get a ton of rain and the occasional flooding so I rather avoid those issues. I just bought a cat back Fabspeed Maxflow exhaust that should arrive tomorrow, pretty excited about getting a bit more of an aggressive sound out of the cayman and the performance gains that should come from that. I was looking at header options and came across the NHPs sold by Maxspeed-Motorsports. Has anyone had any experience with them? They look pretty good and they’re set at a better price point than anything I’ve seen so far. These seem to have 200 cell cats vs our stock 400 cell so it should make some difference. I wanted to keep some form of cats on just because i want to avoid getting too obnoxiously loud and like to think i’m Helping the environment a little this way. https://www.maxspeed-motorsports.com/store/p383/Porsche_987.2_NHP_200_Cells_Exhaust_Headers.html Anyway, that’s all I’ve got so far. Tunes and visual upgrade will probably come after I finish any performance hardware stuff but i’m Excited to hear your thoughts first. Thanks for reading!

I have the same car and I would recommend the short shift kit (not the GT3 but the “short shift” kit) if you have a manual and a sprint booster if you don’t have sport chrono . You already have the exhaust going on. The sloppy shifter, lazy throttle, and quietness were the only deficiencies I found in the car. Fix those and it’s an absolute blast.

I’ve been thinking about the short shifter but wasn’t sure how worthwhile it would be. Also not sure how it would affect daily drivability? As for the sprint booster , which do you recommend?

No downsides to the short shifter imo. Simply makes shifting better in every way. On the SB , not sure there are multiple versions. I would just get their latest version.

Personally, I wouldn't waste the money on headers . Exhaust is good, make it sound nice. Like your air filter, upgrade things when they're in need of replacement. But don't bother with putting money into performance for a base; focus your attention on handling and improved driving experience. I pulled that shield out of my intake, made absolutely zero difference in performance and couldn't hear any change over my exhaust , so it went back in. I enjoy the added challenge of rainy track days and hill climbs so water protection is preferred. I never understood why people complained about the shifter throw of these cars until I realized that mine (the only manual one I test drove) already had a short shifter installed. Upon driving a friend's Cayman, I was disgusted by how long the stock throw is. It's a great upgrade for the driving experience and there's no reason why it would hinder daily driving. It'll actually make dailying easier, since you can just leave your elbow on the armrest and change gears with a flick of the wrist.

I have the Numeric short shifter , and I couldn't be happier. Install was a breeze, and the throws are not just shorter but also noticeably crisper. There are three throw options, and I have it on the middle one. I can't even imagine how different the shortest option must feel. You should also probably get the Numeric shift cables too, as there have been reports of the OEM shift cables breaking, sometimes without warning. I have them, but I haven't installed them yet. Ideally one would install them at the same time as the short shifter, as the center console area will need to come apart for both jobs. I was an idiot and didn't do that. With regard to the Sprint Booster - I would simply recommend you do some research about what it does and how it does it before you decide whether you want to buy it. It does little more than use electricity to "trick" the ECU into thinking you're pressing the accelerator pedal more quickly than you are or that it's deeper into its travel than it really is. While it makes your car feel more responsive, it's technically nothing that can't be accomplished by simply pressing the accelerator pedal harder / faster.

High flowing headers definitely make a difference in these cars. I upgraded my car to Soul 200-cell headers and definitely noticed an improvement in sound and power. When choosing headers look for HJS cats. These are German made and are the best on the market. They should last the life of your car. Reputable companies like Soul , Cargraphic and Fabspeed use them in their headers . NHP uses Chinese headers that's why they are much cheaper. If buying new also pay attention to warranty details.

When you added the 200 cell headers , did you get any lights or codes? Is a tune required? I have a base with a borla catback, sounds great but squeezing out some more HP is always nice. Soul is a little pricey but seems like awesome quality.

Colnago, I hear that response all the time in regards to the sprintbooster. Almost always from people who have never tried one for themselves. I was super skeptical as well before I purchased. I am telling you, it does waaaaay more than mimic the response of “simply pressing the pedal harder.” It transformed the character of the car. Night and day. I’ve dropped over $15k in mods on my Cayman and the sprintbooster is the best bang for the buck mod I have done. Seriously.

Hey guys, just an update. I got the Fabspeed exhaust today and i’m super excited to install it. After reading some of your comments I’ve started to think twice about the headers . It might not be entirely necessary, after all it is just a base that I may end up selling in a few years anyway. As for the short shifter, I think this might be more likely just because the more I read about it the more it seems that it really makes a positive difference in the fun of driving it so I may end up doing that. In terms of the Sprint booster , I’m wondering if it really makes a difference if I’m planning on doing the ECU tune anyway? Wouldn’t that also increase the response time?

I went with the GT3 shift console for the metal bushings. Every Cayman I test drove (all with ~60k to 75k miles) had sloppy shift action, I think the factory plastic-bushing consoles wear and develop a lot of play. I also went with the updated cable routing and new cables. What a huge difference that made! I'm good with this setup. If I'd wanted short shift throws I probably would have gone with the Numeric one as I think the Porsche short-shifter doesn't do anything about lateral throws, only shortens fore/aft throws. I have sport chrono , and even in "sport" mode the throttle response feels soft. Forget to hit sport button and it's downright lazy. I honestly thought I'd never be using "sport" on the street because excessive tip-in response isn't a thing I'm a fan of, but Porsche really seems to have gone out of their way to make the base model feel DOG-SLOW. If cars without the sport chrono package feel like mine does without "sport" button engaged, I'd probably do something about it. My '17 BRZ feels 10x more eager off the line vs. Cayman in sport mode, nevermind non-sport! Anyway, enjoy!

Stage 2 tune will help with initial acceleration.

Avoid the K & N, it's install sucks, as its a poor fit into the stock airbox. If you do it you need to bevel the rubber edge about 3mm with a 30 degree ramp to get it to slide on, sme silicon lube helps to. The de-sork is good for the sound, that's it, nice induction noises. Sharkwerks told me the only real gain with the tune is the throttle response improvement, so the Sprint Booster maybe easier to do and it has levels of adjustments basically increases the amount of throttle sooer in the range of the pedal movement. Maybe good for the street, as it feels racey, but on track you would want more modulation to control the cars movement better in a corner, ie not a jumpy throttle pedal.

I am using aFe MagnumFLOW air filter. It's reusable/washable and provides better air flow than stock. It's only $30 more than a disposable one. Installation was simple. I got it here: https://flat6motorsports.com/collec...om/collections/987-intake/products/afe-magnumflow-air-filter-cayman-boxster-987

Dont mess w the K+N air filter!! The mount system absolutely sux!! Go BMC..

I agree with cavediver. I have a BMC in my 07 987.1 and it is a perfect fit! Can’t go wrong with BMC. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I installed the Fabspeed cat-back exhaust (well, not totally cat-back: the secondary cats are removed) 10 years or so ago on my 987.1 2.7. You may encounter problems of squeaking, tips alignment, and drone. The following post addressed those items. https://www.planet-9.com/reviews/ca...fications/p52-aftermarket-exhaust-adjustment-milltek-2c-awe-2c-fabspeed-2c.html

Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since last update. I installed the Fabspeed Max flow exhaust and well.... Although the top end sound is amazing, the drone around 2500rpm is insane. If I’m cruising in 6th and make the mistake of pressing the gas without shifting to 4th first, man do my ears really not like that. I read on the forum johnkhobson posted that this might be just an adjustment issue from the install so I’m hoping to test that out asap but if not, I’m not sure what to do. I read that exhaust wraps might help with the inner resonance + even help with scavenging, does anyone have any experience with those?

I get what you mean about cruising in sixth without shifting to 4th when gassing... will a sprint booster be a cheap fix for this?

For the drone? I can’t see why it would fix it... I just mean that the acceleration in that rpm range make the drone unbearable

With the SB , it could help being less likely in that zone and for a shorter period. You can simply downshift and have a heavier gas foot too I guess.

Changing the performance output of a car isn't going to change the exhaust tone. You'd still hit drone every time you passed through the magic RPM rnage. There's a few things you can do to minimize the effects of drone. For one, sometimes just adjusting the length of the exhaust tips can help. You could also consider welding in some resonators. But without studying the science of flow with your specific system, resonators could hinder performance or simply change the RPM range that drone occurs. One thing that will really help would be to get some sound dampening material to line the trunk area. While this won't prevent the drone, it will help muffle it as it comes into the cabin. The Cayman has much worse drone than the Boxster because of the rear hatch turns the cabin into a symphony hall for the engine. The Boxster just has wind noise.

Thanks for the advise! So right now I have the exhaust tips in line with the bumper, so it’s not really sticking out too much. Do you think extending them out a bit would help?

I’ll definitely give it a shot! Do you know anything about if the exhaust wraps could help? I read from some people that it could help muffle down the drone and even help a little with performance. I’m sure the performance bit is negligible but if it helps, I’d be willing to try that too.

Wrapping the headers and exhaust would only very slightly muffle the noise. You'd have better luck from lining the interior with sound dampening insulation. The main performance benefits are to keep the heat within the exhaust plumbing and discourage the heat from dissipating into the engine bay. Turbo cars see a greater benefit from these types of wraps.

If you interested in an ecu tune eventually, just do it now. I have the MaxFlo on my S (manual) and mine had pretty bad drone, too. I went for a Cobb tune and it took it right out!!! Altered the exhaust note, too...she is quite deeper now.

I do plan on getting an ECU tune eventually but I want to make sure I get all of my hardware out of the way first. Might end up adding in some 200 cell catted headers and I’m considering the plenum + gt3 TB. Speaking of, does anyone know how useful the GT3 TB is as a stand-alone upgrade (without the IPD Plenum upgrade)? Found a good deal on the TB but the plenum still seems pretty expensive to me and I’m not sure if I’m completely convinced it’s worth it. As always, I appreciate the tips and advise from everyone!

I stumbled onto a great setup through Soul for my 987.1S. I bought Soul 's long tube catless headers . John also mentioned that Softronic 's had a great flash that would tie together the 82mm throttle body I thought I had installed in my car. Well, I was wrong, I had Softronics Race package installed on my car, a 78mm 996 GT3 throttle body from an earlier year and that year GT3 RS plenum. Along with a EVOMS air cleaner, the engine could breathe and the long tube headers to extract. Scott at Softronics has a current special tune for that Race package that I downloaded and installed. His tune adjusts fuel delivery, vario cam plus, ignition mapping and intake resonance valve. So the end result was a flat torque slope and from seat of the pants, great acceleration. I am now looking to finish this job with a Sprint Booster , not for the track but for the other 80% of my cars usage. I really want to do a Dyno test on this setup to let Scott and John know the results.

Hey everyone, thought I would give a little update. So I still haven’t had time to adjust my cat-back just yet but I’m still hoping this will help eliminate the drone. If not maybe some wrap will be next , we’ll see. On the other hand, my fathers birthday is coming up so I decided to buy him the tune for his S550 along with my own (tuner very kindly helped me out in terms of pricing) so I guess that’s going to speed up some of the other purchases I had in mind! I’m looking at about $2k for both tunes including the flash loaders. I guess I might as well get the 200 cell headers asap since they would need to be included before the tune is created. I guess October is the Month of Mods for the Cayman ! Still debating on the IPD plenum + TB upgrade... I know I should have this before the tune also but I’m really on the fence here.

Just found a very interesting like: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/264037885115 Can anyone confirm if this is the correct TB to use for the upgrade? If so, that’s a lot cheaper than anywhere else I’ve seen! Plus, it’s new! Thanks in advance!

Have you seen this post? https://www.planet-9.com/planet-9-c...sifieds/240575-fs-ipd-plenum-74mm-throttle-body-3-2l-boxster-s-post2133741.html Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I did see that but it’s for the smaller, standard plenum size. Also, its for the older design which doesn’t fit my car. I actually found Siga Motorsports sells the upgraded plenum for a little cheaper so I went ahead and I bought it with them. I’ll purchase the GT3 TB and hopefully do the install soon and let you guys know!

What do you typically use your car for and what other plans do you have in mind? I have a 2.9 as well and noticed a HUGE difference when I put my catless headers , x-tips and tune. I can't wait to hear about your thoughts on the TB and if it makes a difference or not.

So the car is actually my daily but I want to be able to take it to the track every now and then for some spirited driving. Nothing too competitive or anything, just to enjoy the drive of a great car. I was hoping to install the plenum + TB yesterday but FedEx has been an absolute mess and just delivered the plenum today. I’m gonna try and install it this weekend and will let you guys know. From what I understand there’s a roughly 50mile break-in period with this upgrade for the ECU to adjust so we’ll see. After that I’ll be doing 200 cell catted headers then, finally, the ECU tune from OE Tuning.